


First frost

by helia7



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 15:18:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13527021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helia7/pseuds/helia7
Summary: Just another day, just another scouting lesson with Grandma





	First frost

**Author's Note:**

  * For [straightforwardly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/straightforwardly/gifts).



 

The boat stopped with a loud thud.

The lapping of the water and the soft splashes of the oars turned into a louder, hurried movement. Through sleepy eyes Lalli watched the old woman fuss with the rope and tie the boat to a tree trunk.

‘Get ready!’ Grandmother said without looking back at him. Even if the prospect of leaving his comfortable lair in the boat was not appealing, he knew better than to argue. He grabbed the smaller rucksack and climbed out to the shore. He was cold.

‘What’s that?’ Grandma  pointed at the brown stains on the rocks under their feet. They looked like old, dried mud.

‘Signs of beasts?’ Lalli looked up at her. ‘Seal-beasts,’ he added as she didn’t seem to be satisfied with the answer. But she was still looking at the rocks.

Lalli crouched down and examined the patches more closely. ‘Two or three days old.’

‘Hm.’ She nodded and turned back to the boat for her belongings.

Although the morning mist was gone, the first frost of the autumn turned the landscape white; tiny needles of ice framed the branches and leaves. Lalli ran over his fingers on frosty birch saplings absentmindedly, as they walked deeper in the woods.

After a few minutes they came upon a half-rotted, mossy tree trunk incorporated in the anthill next to it. Grandmother stopped.

‘What do we do before entering a forest?’ she asked in a tone that promised a strict lecture. Lalli didn’t feel like having one of those. He yawned and let his gaze wander over the pine trees on his right, from their thick branches up to the sky.

‘We give a sacrifice to the spirits of the forest!’ Grandma snapped. She grabbed the neck of Lalli’s coat and pulled him closer.

‘Everyone knows that!’ Lalli grumbled and tried to escape the grip of the old, boney fingers.

‘Then you can tell me what should we do if we see a forest spirit!’

‘Be polite, don’t fear, let the spirit talk first,’ he mumbled. Grandmother finally loosed her hold on his coat.

_We go through this every time_ , Lalli fumed while he watched Grandmother taking out the necessary items of her sack. She poured alcohol on top of the anthill, added silver slices of an old coin and finally cut her finger for a few drops of blood. _I’m not stupid, I can remember what to do without this endless repetition._

Grandmother said the words for safety on their path, then turned to Lalli.  ‘Now keep close to me and stay quiet,’ she whispered.

They walked along a narrow, barely visible trail. The pines blocked out most of the light above, but the white frost gave the path an enchanted glow. After a while the trees lessened and they came to a small clearing - a half frozen bog. Grandmother’s steps slowed down, carefully searching for solid ground. Lalli tried to follow, but his strides often proved to be too short. The rotten remains of planks draw a weird pattern next to them, Lalli turned his head to take a better look.

He slipped.

*

 

 Ensi turned back.

‘How many times should I tell you to watch out?!’ she schooled Lalli in a hushed voice. ‘We have no idea what lurks around this place!’

Lalli stared at her with angry eyes as he scrambled to his feet. She was ready for a stubborn argument, but after a few seconds he bit his lips and remained quiet.

_Good_ , Ensi thought, _the boy is learning_.

They had to move on. She tried to proceed even more carefully and turned back every now and then to watch over Lalli.

_Isn’t he too young for this?_ she wondered _He looks so small, so vulnerable._ But he had to toughen up for this harsh life; because just like her, he had a task to fulfil. She had this argument with her son and daughter-in-law more than once, anyway. When survival was at stake, there was no room for softness. _And who knows how long will I be able to teach him..._

They left the bog behind and were walking in the woods again, toward something that looked like the ruin of a house. Ensi had a bad feeling. The forest became too quiet; they were surrounded by an eerie silence. No signs of life, no birdsongs. That never promised anything good.

She stopped and held up her hand to make Lalli do the same.

The house itself was barely recognisable; it had lost its roof and most of the walls. It seemed nature had started to take the place back. But strangely enough, the small building of the sauna further down was almost intact.

Ensi narrowed her eyes; there was something inside. She concentrated, strengthened her gaze and looked inside. Then gasped.

She saw bones growing in unnatural ways, deformed spines, and heads slowly turning towards them. And she heard the voices too.

 ‘Let’s get away from here, quick!’ She glanced at Lalli. He was staring at the sauna with wide eyes, his fingers grasping at the hem of his sleeves. ‘Don’t listen to it! Come!’

*

 

_‘Help!’ ‘I want to play’ ‘It’s too cold’ ‘Kill us, please!’ ‘Get closer!_

The voices were echoing in Lalli’s head. It was hard to ignore them. _That was a family once, long ago_ , he thought. But there was no way to help them; not even Grandma was powerful enough to end their sufferings and guide the souls to Tuonela without getting seriously injured. And of course, he knew, this rash monster would try to kill them the moment they got closer, into the shadows. But still...

He hurried after his grandmother and tried to concentrate on something else. But soon enough an uneasy instinct made him turn back.

‘Grandma,’ he whispered, ‘I think a weird thing is following us.’

‘Yes. They had a dog,’ she said. ‘Get your knife ready and keep moving!’

Dog-beasts often sought out the company of humans, this much he remembered from Grandma’s lectures; standing still and silent wouldn’t work with them. He grabbed the hilt of his knife, but suddenly a wave of shame rushed over him. _What use this stupid knife has?_ Despite all the frustrating lessons and tries he still hadn’t learned how to channel his magic - not even to his hands, let alone weapons. _Onni could do this at four,_ he thought with a bit of envy.

But he had no time to time dwell on it; the beast was already there, snarling at him from the shadows. Its horrifying head and dead eyes made him shiver. His heart was thumping in his throat.

The creature leapt.

_I have to stop it_ , Lalli held up his knife and thrust. The blade cut into _something_ and an agonizing whine filled the air. He could feel the weight of the beast on him, but with a flash of light Grandma’s knife came into view, the beast collapsed to the ground and silence fell over the woods again.

‘Are you alright?’ He heard his grandmother’s voice.

‘Mr,’ Lalli was catching his breath. He was shaking. He felt a weird, tingling pain in his hand that was still grasping the knife. But when he looked at it, he gasped with surprise. There was a faint, blue light around the blade. Not as strong and bright as Grandmother’s, but it was a start.

Grandma’ eyes were on Lalli’s knife too. He was hoping for some kind of compliment or recognition, but nothing came. _Of course._

‘We should head back to the shore,’ she said finally.

*

 

The boat glided swiftly on the open water.

Ensi’s shoulders were already sore from rowing and she felt a stabbing pain in her lower back. _I’m getting older and older every day_ she thought bitterly. Nonetheless, she had to keep a good pace and get back home before daybreak, or at least reach the more familiar parts of the lake. 

_That island better stay on the list of dangerous destinations_. She took a last glance at the dark silhouette of trees already fading in the distance.

A flock of geese crossed the sky above the boat; their noisy cries made her look up. This group must be among the last ones leaving for winter, flying through monster-filled lands to the South. She found the presence of the birds soothing.

Lalli was curled up on the bottom of the boat, eyes closed. Did he fall asleep or was he just trying to block out the world? It was hard to tell. On their way home Ensi usually taught him about the lore he would need as a mage, but now she let him rest. Maybe tomorrow.

_He’s carrying a heavy burden._ She looked at the small figure and watched his breath turning into white puffs in the cooling air. _Will he be able to live up to all the expectations? Will he find at least a little happiness?_ She shook her head. _These kinds of thoughts are useless._   Her task was to train him and teach him how to survive.

‘You did well today,’ she whispered.

A faint smile appeared on Lalli’s face.

Ensi’s gaze lingered on her youngest grandchild for a few more seconds, then she pulled the oars again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Minutia_R for proofreading and Laufey for the consultation on folklore


End file.
